TWO SERMONS. 



I. SIGNS OF OUR NATIONAL ATHEISM. 
II. THE WAR BEGUN. 



BY 

C. D. HELMER, 

I I 
MILWAUKEE. 



Preached in Plymouth Churdi on the Eveuint^s ol A])ril 21st and 28th, 1861. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



MILWAUKEE : TERRY & CLEAVER, PUBLISHERS, 

BOOKSELLERS AND STATIONERS, 167 BAST WATER ST. 
1861. 



^A5^ 



.\ 



,^41 



These Sermons are printed as they were first delivered, without 
change. The second Discourse was addressed to Companies of 
Volunteers from the First Regiment of Wisconsin Militia. 






SIGNS OF OUR NATIONAL ATHEISM. 



These are days when the noise of tumultuous events breaks 
over into the quietude of the Sabbath. As it sometimes happens 
with our lake, which lies out here, behind the bluffs : when there 
is a powerful and persistent sweep of the winds across the water 
you will hear the roar of the excited billows, reverberating along 
the shore and breaking, in softened thunder, over into the city, 
pouring the echoes of the storm down the streets, through the 
windows and doors of our houses, even into the sacred silence of 
the inmost chamber — so is it now with the tempestuous roar that 
comes up from the stormy deep of this turbulent nation. The 
low thunder and the shrill hiss of this popular whirlwind break in 
upon every sphere of life, resounding through the shop, the 
counting-room, the office, the court house, the exchange, the mar- 
ket, the school, penetrating the very vestibule of religion, and 
invading even its inmost temple. Only one week ago to-day, from 
morning till evening, and late into the night, groups of men were 
gathered upon the corners of the streets, waiting for the telegrams 
from Fort Sumter, and eagerly discussing the latest news, with 
every demonstration of excitement. Many forgot the house of 
God altogether ; and some of those who visited the sanctuary 
were thinking more of the telegraphic despatches than of the 
Word of God. 

Now, it is in vain to talk of holding back the popular mind 
from thinking upon this inflammatory subject. Only dead men, 
and such as are as good as dead — I mean such as are morally, po- 
litically and patriotically fast asleep — only such men will remain 



without a touch of excitement amid this national tumult. And it 
is in vain, moreover, to talk of excluding the theme from the 
hoube of God, I should like to see you shut out from this conse- 
crated audience room the atmosphere, and the light, and the echoes 
of the noisy street. If you did, you would have a vacuum in 
which no man could live ; a darkness in which no eye could see ; 
and the empty silence of sepulchres. 

And just because this theme of the times thrusts itself into the 
Church, and upon the tranquility of the Sabbath ; just because 
it is so all-penetrating, it cannot, rightly nor reasonably, be ig- 
nored and declined. I do not propose to do so easy a thing as 
merely to excite an already excited people. It is not a very diffi- 
cult, nor a very venturesome, nor a very heroic deed, to throw a 
few shavings upon a house already covered with flames. Never- 
theless, our present affairs have a religious, as well as a political 
aspect ; and this should not be lost sight of amid the turbulence 
of the hour. Nay, I think that if, as a people, we do not seize 
the religious significance of the times, and make that use of 
events which God intends, we shall be hardened, instead of soft- 
ened, as we ought to be, by this Divine chastisement. And, so, 
it is my present purpose to present some thoughts upon the moral 
and religious aspect of our national difficulties. Not by any 
means, my friends, shall I venture to speak to you as a politician 
or a statesman ; but simply as one appointed to expound the Word 
of God in public, amd apply it to all practical uses. 

As the basis of these remarks, I take from the prophecy of 
Zephaniah, 1:12: ''Audit shall come to pass at that time, 
that I mill search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men 
luho are settled on their lees; that say in their heart, The Lord 
mill not do (jood, neither will he do evil." 

There are twu classes of lisieners to the Gospel, and they stand 
upon t)pi)iisite sides. Those of the one class are always ready and 
l)leased Id hear discourses about the Jews. They appear to relish 
(J (id's dealings with that chosen people of antiquity; and are able 
to iippreciate the righteousness of God in visiting iniquity with 
just retribiitiun, as well as the Divine mercy and forbearance in 
attempting to bring the nation up into a true religious culture. 
But fur such hearers you must keep the gospel inside of Palestine, 



and outside of the United States. They like the Old Testament, 
but cannot suffer it to be cumbered with practical observations and 
modern applications. They will listen attentively to you while 
commenting on the Jews, so long as you do not intimate, or leave 
a crack iu the discourse large enough to let a little suggestion fall 
through, that these truths might apply to men and things in our 
day. 

Those of the other class cannot endure any reference to the 
Jews, unless it be followed up with a rhetorical thunder-clap, 
right overhead, to electrify the dead allusion, and drop a fiery bolt 
into some magazine of existing evils. They want an American, 
not a Hebrew, gospel ; and sometimes they carry this modernizing 
to such an extravagant pitch that they despise and reject whatever 
is not dug out of the soil right under their feet. Both of these 
are extremes ; and as usual, the right and the true lies somewhere 
between them. 

I believe the history of the Jews was designed — and the record 
by Divine Inspiration accomplished the design — to be a portrait- 
ure of God's method of dealing with chosen nations There are 
elected nations and have always been, whom (jod has taken to be 
special instruments, for the time, in carrying forward his plans for 
the race. And of all these the Jews have been made the most 
conspicuous. In them and through them God restored to the 
world the lost knowledge of His Unity and Universal Sovereignty. 
He caused them to triumph marvelously over nations which were 
given wholly to idolatry ; whereby He disclosed to the world that 
He is Supreme above all gods. 

But in accomplishing these purposes, as is evident from their 
instructive history, the people of Israel were a rude and unpliant 
material to work with. See how God found it necessary to smite 
them again and again, scattering tlie bones of the first generation, 
after leaving Egypt, in the wilderness, and sending their more 
tractable children into the Promised Land. Much as God loved 
the Hebrews; rich and abundant and absolute as were His promises 
to them, He was forced many times to rain retribution upon their 
gross, astounding, and abominable iniquities, and at last to scatter 
them with the whirlwind of His righte<jus judgment, throughout 



the earth, where they remain to this day, dispersed, in their monu- 
mental destiny, as a warning to rebellious and sin-loving nations. 

This is a historic picture that ought to have made all fu- 
ture nations more wise respecting the will and providential meas- 
ures of God. It establishes, at any rate, beyond all controversy, 
that there is a God of Nations ; and that there are national re- 
wards and punishments meted out justly by this Omnipotent Sov- 
ereign. And the passage which I have quoted from the Prophecy 
of Zephaniah, made in the days of King Josiah, is an expression of 
the fact that God will search out iniquities and punish them. He 
will punish men and nations who are settled on their lees ; that is, 
men and nations who continue in sin in spite of all entreaties and 
admonitions. Sometimes these men and nations say, " The Lord 
will not do good, neither will he do evil ;" and so they encourage 
and comfort themselves in their wickedness. Men are fond of 
putting God out of the way both by their wily sophistries and by 
their , processes of self-delusion. Yet, a God that does neither 
good nor evil is no God — is nothing. Just as a man, of whom it 
could be said that he does neither good nor evil, is no man — is 
nobody. But this national atheism will be punished ; and will be 
punished here, seeing there is no throne of judgment set among the 
stars, in the world hereafter, for the final reckoning of nations. 

The American people — I regret to say it — are chargeable with 
the immense and heinous sin of National Atheism. They do not 
profess to be a people without a God ; they have never voted \^ 
their popular assemblies that '* there is no God." Nay, rather, 
we stand forth among the nations a so-called Christian people, and 
if the question were to-day put to the world, " What are the 
Americans ?" it would be responded from every land under the 
sun — " They are a Christian nation." I wish this response had 
no need of a qualification. 

But so much the worse, if we are nominally Christian, and yet 
may be justly accused of atheism. And we should hardly have 
expected this so soon after the era — eventful, immortal, and glo- 
rious — that we love to call " the Revolution." We should not 
have looked for such a defection from the reputation of our ances- 
tors at so early a period. They believed in a God of nations and 
a God of battles. They recognized His sovereignty and His con- 



trol in human affairs. They were eminently religious, And yet 
before a century has marched its hundred years, under the blazing 
banner of revolving suns, into the eternal world, wc have forgotten 
it. 

But was it not precisely so with the Children of Israel ? God 
opened a dry road for their escape through the Red Sea, granting 
them a miraculous deliverance from their enemies ; and yet how 
soon were they bowing before the golden calf ! The likeness is 
striking — yea, more than that — positively startling. The Jews 
forgot the God who brought them out of the bondage of the Pha- 
raohs ; and we have forgotten the God who delivered us from a 
foreign dominion and granted us a separate and free nationality. 
God sent a just punishment upon the apostate and ungrateful He 
brews ; and what ought we to expect under like circumstances ? 

But let me speak more particularly of some national traits 
wherein this atheism discloses itself. 

And, first, I arraign the godless spirit of gain in the commer- 
cial world. You know very well that we have been chai-ged with 
being worshippers of the '* almighty dollar." Whether this ought 
to be considered an unjust or an extravagant accusation, you are 
as competent to decide as anybody. Certain it is, that this nation 
has grown rich in an incredibly short period of time. We began 
like an apprentice or clerk in the vast establishment of nations ; 
and to-day — almost before we are twenty-one — we are not only a 
respectable firm, but stand alongside of the oldest and largest 
houses of the world. We are able to enlarge our business on 
every hand, and have monty to loan besides. 

Now it cannot but be with a nation as with individuals : those 
who become rich with such swift accumulations are exposed to 
mighty temptations. The inspired author of Proverbs says, "He 
that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." And our 
Lord said, " How hardly shall they which have riches enter into 
the Kingdom of Heaven." In which is involved the truth, that in 
the acqviisition of wealth lie immense hazards to the moral charac- 
ter. And one of the Apostles said, •' The love of money is the 
root of all evil." 

Now the possession of property is a good thing as a means — a 
help — in this earthly life. It is not to be despised nor underesti- 



8 

mated as such. But money as an end — the acquiring of gain 
merely to hold and possess it — the pursuit of riches simply to be 
rich, is degrading and ruinous to the higher nature of man. And 
just here, as a people, we have been exposed to the strongest and 
most perilous temptations. We have made haste to be rich. 
There has arisen a fungus aristocracy of wealth. It has seemed so 
necessary a thing to be rich, that there has been a general rush for 
gold, with an immense disregard of the methods by which it was to 
be gotten. 

As a consequence, the conscience has grown torpid. A thou- 
sand expedients have been tolerated in the transactions of business 
for money-making, that would have been hissed and hooted at else- 
where. Multitudes have become financial Jesuits — acting on the 
base assumption that " the end justifies the means." The 
end being money — get it, honestly if you can, with no more sacri- 
fice of moral principle perhaps than is necessary, but be sure to 
get it. 

In this mad haste and hot pursuit men have not paused even to 
consider the law of equivalents in the acquiring of wealth. Hence, 
they have gambled in stocks, laid wagers on scrip, frightened and 
intoxicated the markets, running into the wildest speculations, with 
the hope of realizing a fortune by the sudden change of prices or 
by some propitious turn of luck. 

And as a necessary result we have had bankruptcies as abun- 
dant as autumn leaves. Why, it has come to be quite an enter- 
taining trick of financial jugglery to break down — to "suspend," 
this very charitable age denominates it — settle with creditors for 
so many cents on the dollar — take the balance and start again. 

Then, too, the financial world seems to be visited by a periodical 
plague. We call these visitations "panics." They are becom- 
ing alarmingly frequent. This is an age of panics. And no 
wonder, when we come to observe how money matters are man- 
aged. Suppose you should go down to the harbor and take the 
hull of a fishing-smack, rigging it with three masts, tall enough 
for a man-of-war. Then, spreading your immense sails over the 
contracted keel, you undertake to navigate the stormy lakes, with 
every inch of canvas given to the winds. Why, the very first 
squall would capsize your top-heavy craft. Fishing smacks were 



not meant to carry the sails of men-of-war. And yet this has 
been the attempted navigation in finance. The immensely ex- 
panded sails of speculation have been lifted up on the narrow 
hull of legitimate business, and almost every squall has filled the 
waves with floundering passengers screaming above the tumult 
of the catastrophe — " panics ! panics !" 

It has resulted from this greediness for gain that many men 
have become unscrupulous in respect to means and methods ; ob- 
livious of honesty, integrity and justice, and oftentimes falling 
into grievous sins and heinous crimes by reason of it. What a 
gloomy history of robberies, forgeries, and defalcations might be 
gathered into a book out of the last ten years. 

Well, what have we to say concerning all this ? I have this 
to say — that no people having such a career can believe in a God 
of honesty, truth and justice. They may nominally recognize 
him, but they say in their hearts, " The Lord will not do good, 
neither will he do evil.'' But we have the word of Inspiration, 
and I think, something more — even the current events of Divine 
Providence to prove that Grod will punish the men who utter 
such atheistic sentiments. 

2. As a second feature, I mention the godless worship of Party. 
It has been altogether too much the popular sentiment — " Our 
Party, right or wrong." Why, such a vile sentiment as that is 
enough to rot down the tree of Liberty, planted by our fathers. 
And if this magnificent tree, that waves its enormous boughs 
over this vast continent, and which we proudly looked to see 
bearing fruit for the healing of oppressed nations, and casting a 
refreshing shadow far and wide for our weary Humanity — if this 
tree, I say, shall ever fall, it will be because of decay within — 
rather than by traitorous strokes upon the bark. 

To be willing, under any circumstances, to do wrong is utter- 
ly unsafe. But when a people are so corrupt as to elevate the 
motto, that right must be subordinate to party, they cannot be 
many leagues off from political shipwreck. The countiy is of 
immeasurably greater value than any party ; patriotism is a far 
higher, nobler and better sentiment than partizansliip ; but to 
assert even the motto — " Our Country, right or wrong " — as 
many are forward to do — is taking a false and rtangerons posi- 



10 

tion. We are not to side with or uphold the wrong under any 
circumstances. That we are committed against, not only by a 
higher, but the highest law. Our party — if it is right, and our 
country, when right, with all that we have and are ; but neither 
of them — so sure as there is a just God presiding over the destiny 
of nations — when we conscientiously believe them wrong. But 
party before principles, party before right and justice and truth, 
is a doctrine for devils and pirates — not for honest, christian 
citizens. 

There is also another sentiment, false and foul, and certainly 
in its tendencies disastrous to our institutions. I mean that 
which is expressed by the phrase, '"To the victors belong the 
spoils." Why, this sounds as though we were in the midst of a 
campaign, and our governmental offices were lawful objects of 
party plunder. What wonder that we sometimes have piratical 
officers iu command of the Ship of State, when ourmodes of elec- 
tion are not much elevated above the maneuvres of professed 
buchaneers. Spoils ! The positions of the rulers of a great and 
respectable people — sacred and honorable offices — degraded sys- 
tematically to the level of booty — the prizes of a meaner than 
guerrilla warfare ! If we are not beyond shame, it ought to 
make the country blush. Any people guilty of such things de- 
serves to become as smoke, not only in the nostrils of a just and 
holy God, but also of all the nations round the globe. 

Connected with this very motto, and partly growing out of this 
sentiment, and subject to the same condemnation, stands the cus- 
tom of employing money in carrying elections. This is one of 
the more recent developments in our national drift toward, or I 
should say, into political corruption. Whatever other things 
parties of a former generation may have been guilty of, they did 
not devise nor practice such iniquity as this. What is this but 
wholesale bribery ? Voters sell their ballots to the highest bid- 
der ; the offices of our Commonwealth are purchased shamelessly 
by gold — these buyers and sellers in the Temple of Liberty not 
seeming to be aware that there is an Omniscient God, whose 
burning eye of detection is looking down out of Heaven upon such 
wicked and abominable venality. The government at auction ! 
is this it ? or dare you call it something else ? The government 



11 

of these United States put up for the highest bidder — the Stars 
and Stripes, our country's banner, becoming the auctioneer's flag 
of this mercenary and ruinous political sale ! God forgive us this 
enormous crime ! And if it is necessary that He should send us 
bitter chastisement for this treacherous wickedness, may it lead 
the people to profound repentance and an utter breaking off from 
this guilty policy. Herein, and herein only, shall we find deliver- 
ance and safety. 

Strange, men are sometimes appointed prophets But let me 
remind you of a political prediction made some twelve years ago 
by the man who has just retired from the Presidency of these 
United States. He said at that time, speaking of the employ- 
ment of money to carry elections — " Should this practice increase 
until the voters and their representatives in the state and national 
legislatures shall become corrupted, the fountain of free govern- 
ment will then be poisoned at its source, and loe must end, as his- 
tory proves, in military despotism.''^ I ask you now whether this 
prediction does not seem to be hastening toward its partial fulfil- 
ment. Does it not look as though history was reasserting its eter- 
nal principles now ; when in this peaceful nation our sickles are 
bent back into swords, our pruning hooks into bayonets, our 
plough-shares converted into battle-axes, and this broad continent 
of farms has become the bannered and resounding camp of mar- 
shaled armies ? Believe me, this result is not without its suffi- 
cient cause. And the betrayal of Liberty, divinely bestowed, by 
this sale and purchase — a shameless and godless traffic — of the 
sacred privileges of free citizenship, is part of the seed sown within 
the past quarter century, which, now upsprung, and ripening into 
a whirlwind of disaster, we may be forced to reap in a bloody har- 
vest of battles. 

3 It becomes necessary also to mention, in the revolting list of 
things that disclose our forgetfulness of God, Official Corrup- 
tion, as a responsible and guilty element. Bulcrs ought to be a 
terror to evil doers. The government of any people is a sacred 
institution, and the men who are chosen to fill its offices ought 
to be men conscious of moral obligition and the responsibilities of 
official position. But how has it been with us ? Do we not all 
know, alas, too well, that upright, high-minded, honorable men have 



12 

for years shrunk from entering into our political contests, many 
times, because they must be defeated, unless they could descend 
to the base intrigues and unscrupulous measures of mere dema- 
gogues? Offices have thus been sought for their emoluments. 
The office itself has been valued and estimated in dollars and cents, 
and so low has it sunk, that no one is any longer surprised by even 
the most astounding developments of official corruption. The 
people have almost come to take such things as a matter of course. 
They scarcely look for anything else. I sometimes think the only 
way to create astonishment now is by means of official honesty and 
integrity, and that seems to awaken the people and cause them to 
open their eyes sooner than almost anything else. But can any 
people — 1 care not how well planted in origin, how religiously, 
patriotically and wisely founded upon constitution and law — can 
any people long endure, when their officers are men oblivious of 
religion, of patriotism and a just wisdom ? No ! they cannot : as 
sure as there is a God of nations ; a God of justice, righteousness 
and truth. 

Why, in this devastating sweep of official corruption even the 
sacred oaths of office become the profanest trifles. Men in the 
highest places of public confidence, with the solemn oath to sup- 
port the Constitution and the Laws lying upon their souls and 
registered before Almighty God, have most recklessly violated 
their official vows and trampled on the very laws they had sworn, 
before Heaven and earth, to defend and obey. When the rulers of 
a people are found guilty of such horrible sacrilege and crime as 
this, what ought we to expect but dissolution and overthrow — if 
there is a Divine President over human aff"airs — as we believe 
there is i If men in private life were so regardless of their oaths 
and vows we should be a nation of robbers, among whom it would be 
utterly unsafe to dwell. Can you conceive of a lower deep of cor- 
ruption into which men can fall than the unscrupulous disregard of 
oaths, taken before God, calling Him to witness; and invoking His 
retribution upon the violation of them V A man who can do that 
i-,an do anything else imaginable. 

4. Furthermore, there has grown up with our free institutions a 
laxity, in thinking and acting, toward law and order. We have 
developed amazingly in individuality; so much so that we have 



13 

probably overgrown semewhat in that direction. This is not un- 
natural. The pendulum of social and political development is 
appointed of God to swing beyond the perpendicular. But it 
must return and will return. We have been like children just dis- 
missed from the school-room, romping and racing with all our 
might in the exuberance of an enthusiastic spirit, called into being 
by unwonted liberties. We have acted sometimes as though we 
hardly knew wliat to do with ourselves. We were so young, so 
vigorous, so untrammeled, so madly joyous. The sedate old na- 
tions, with hoary locks and wrinkled brows and sturdy frames, have 
stood with folded arms gazing at us, sometimes amused and some- 
times amazed, sometimes shaking the head and sometimes nodding 
smiling assent, and sometimes utterly nonplused. But it will 
hardly do for nations to be boys very long, unless they are unusu- 
ally good boys. In this ungirding, unbuckling and national loosen- 
ing we have perhaps let out our girdles and straps too many holes. 
Not so much a wonder is it, however, for the Kings and Emperors 
had kept man laced and girded up so tightly that it was almost 
impossible to breathe, much less to grow and be vigorous and 
healthy. It was a bad fashion — that political and civil tight-lac- 
ing ; but this is no reason why we should break our ribs in a too 
sudden and unlimited expansion, and I think we will not ; but we 
need caution. 

We have forgotten too much the sanctity of Law, and have failed 
to remember that Order is of celestial birth. We have stood upon 
our continent, shaking our fist in the face of the world, vociferous- 
ly announcing the dogma that we had the right " to do as we 
please," and moreover, distinctly intended to exercise that right. 
Consequently, there has been a reflex influence. The seed that we, 
as the husbandmen of humanity, threw into the air to be scattered 
upon the old continent, was partly blown back by the wind ; and, 
having sprung up around our own feet, the harvest is now on our 
hands. We must reap it and be more careful next time. 

But there has been something very serious in this excessive 
liberty. We have claimed the right to think and speak and act 
freely, and 1 hope we never shall be deprived of it ; but, in exer- 
cising this right we have not always regarded truth and justice and 
charity. We have too many times placed a higher estimation up- 



14 

on our freedom from restraint than upon law and rectitude. And, 
in this letting down, crime has gone unpunished ; thu penalties of 
law have often been degraded into mere farces ; we have too many 
times thrown turf at the offenders, instead of effective fragments 
of judicial granite ; and criminals have in multitudes escaped jus- 
tice, especially when shielded and aided by money in their flight 
and evasion. 

We have been given also to the utmost license of criticism upon 
our government in all its departments : and we have a right to ar- 
raign and try the officials, for they are our servants. But especial- 
ly in our political campaigns there has been a reckless and un- 
righteous custom of disparaging and villifying rival candidates ; 
the truth in multitudes of cases being perverted or quite sup- 
pressed, and unmitigated lies shamelessly and with unblushing 
persistence held forward to the public gaze, for the mere purpose 
of purloining votes. And the demagogue presses of the country 
have, to-day, this grevious sin upon their consciences — if they 
have any left ; and now, when the nation is imperiled from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, from the great Lakes to the Gulf, it ought 
to sit heavy upon their souls as the ghost of a murdered victim 
upon the breast of conscious guilt. 

Such has been the license with which rulers of the government 
have been discussed that almost all respect and veneration have 
been destroyed ; and you behold now a measurable reaction, when, 
on both sides of our famous division Line, excited mobs compel, by 
threats and violence, a cautious and respectful utterance. We 
have too many times failed to distinguish between the office, which 
is sacred, and the man who may happen to fill it worthily or unwor- 
thily. And to such a pitch has this come, that we have, to-day, 
the spectacle of a formidable rebellion, baptized with the name of 
a government based upon the Providence of God. It is baldly 
stated — and I greatly admire the boldness and plainness of the de- 
claration, while I utterly discard the idea — that this recent organ- 
ization of rebels — * " is the firbt government ever instituted upon 
principles in strict conformity to nature and the ordination of 
Providence, in furnishing the materials of human society." 
When it is thus clearly and unmistakably declared by a leader, 

» Speech of A. H. Stephens, Savannah, March 22, 1861. 



15 

that the abominable system of African slavery is God's best and 
only basis for a human civil government, it becomes us to pause 
and consider whither we are drifting, and whether we are not with- 
in sound of the breakers. In this marvellous looseness of speech 
the Fathers of American Liberty are flung overboard by the toss 
of a few sentences of easy rhetoric. 

6. Besides these things I must mention, also, an enormous con- 
fidence in the omnipotence of the United States. We have 
spoken great swelling words in our own praise. We have tolerat- 
ed and even fostered a stilted and inflated language of self-lauda- 
tion. We have quite deified America, and cast down our ofi"er- 
ings at the feet of this national goddess. We have worshiped the 
almighty America. I said a little while ago that we were accused 
of worshiping the " almighty dollar ;" but we are chargeable with 
devotion to another idol ; there is a twin branch to our idolatry ; 
for we have worshiped also the almighty United States. 

It has seemed to us in our sheltered continental dwelling place, 
with the sleepless billows of guardian oceans upon either band, 
and our remoteness from the arenas of the old national struggles, 
that we were safe and invincible. We have congratulated our- 
selves upon our unanimity, our patriotism, our numbers, our 
sagacity, our peaceable dispositions ; and have said, or seemed to 
say : " who is able to subdue us ? Let the old world combined 
send forth her swarming armaments, we are sufficient to meet the 
invading hosts of the world." And so we have become self- 
reliant, proud, boastful, arrogant, and self-willed. Our enormous 
confidence in ourselves has undermined and destroyed our con- 
fidence in Jehovah. We have felt so nearly, if not quite, omni- 
potent ourselves, that we have not perceived the need of assistance 
even from a Divine Helper. And we ought not to be surprised, 
therefore, if we are jarred and shaken out of this soporific self- 
confidence by the vigorous chastisements of a jealous God, who 
claims, and will never surrender, the allegiance of all the nations 
upon the face of the earth. 

6. As last in the list of these atheistical developments I bring 
forward the results of an unparalleled pro speritrj. We have 
not, like most other nations, grown up by the natural inciease 
of successive generations ; but we have occupied an open region 



16 

into which the entire Old World has emptied her crowded popu- 
lations. We have said — " let them come — there is room enough 
and to spare." And while the increase of our census reports has 
amazed the world, the augmentation of our wealth and power has 
confounded all ordinary means and methods of measurement. 

And thus, busy everywhere with our peaceful pursuits, we 
have settled on our lees and have come to think nothing could 
greatly disturb us. We have from time to time lifted up our 
eyes and looked across the oceans to see other nations convulsed 
with revolutions, tossed and shaken by the earthquakes of war, 
or rolling confounded upon the tiery billows of political anarchy; 
and have never dreamed that by and by our turn would come. 
We have gazed upon those trans-Atlantic wonders, as if they 
were the scenes of a panorama unrolling before our vision leisurely 
for our entertainment. Meantime God was calling to us by the 
voice of battles, and revolts, and anarchic tumults — "Watch and 
Pray — lest ye enter into temptation. Watch ! lest in such an 
hour as ye think not — the Son of Man shall come." But we 
would not hear; we would not watch; we did not pray: and 
now he is at the door. 

A halcyon period of almost unexampled peace has been granted 
us in our national growth. The art of war has well nigh become 
obsolete, our military system degenerating through an ever- 
dwindling and sinking militia discipline down to the farce of a 
holiday parade ; till now, when, roused by the dreadful emergency 
of the times, we begin to clutch for the weapons of warfare, like 
soldiers who have been awakened from slumbers by an unexpected 
call to arms. We have proudly boasted that we needed no stand- 
ing army. While Italy, and Russia, and the Germanic States, 
and France, and Spain, and England have been marching and 
countermarching, arming and disciplining, expending immense 
sums upon their armies, we have thanked our stars, instead of 
God, that we were burdened with no such oppressive tax of war. 
But that pleasant dream is over for the present. That lethargy 
into which we were deeply settling and which undoubtedly was 
ruinous in its results, has been broken in upon by the terrific 
thunder-peals of an opening war — and the most dreadful of all — 
a civil war. Our turn has come. The God of nations and of 
battles — whom we have so guiltily forsaken, have mercy upon us! 



17 

Throughout this brief review, my friends, wo discover that we 
are chargeable with being atheistic upon the one side and morally 
corrupt upon the other. We have settled upon our lees. "We 
have said in our hearts — " The Lord will not do good neither 
will he do evil." And I believe He has now come to search us, 
as with candles, and to bring merited punishment upon us for 
our great iniquities. 

I do not forget that the institution of African slavery, as it 
exists in our country, is to be regarded as the more immediate 
occasion of the present outbreak and trouble by which we are to- 
day shaken from centre to circumference. But wicked and offensive 
in the sight of God and the majority of mankind as I believe that 
institution to be, we might have perhaps been enabled to carry it 
forward until God by some peaceful means should have removed 
the burden from us, had we not^become so enfeebled in our body 
politic by reason of our godlessness and moral corruptions. And 
now, when in our moi'al impotence it seems to be breaking us 
down, God is coming in the whirlwind to take the matter in His 
own hand and accomplish the work himself. 

We had almost forgotten, as a nation, that there is a God. Tt 
is still fresh in our memory how a distinguished Senator pre- 
sented a resolution so to amend the Constitution as to cause it to 
recognize the existence of God. And this in America ! the land 
of the Puritans ; the land upon whose savage shores the Christian 
discoverer Columbus planted the Cross in token of its submission 
to the sway of Jesus Christ ; the land of Bibles and Churches and 
religious institutions unsurpassed ! 

And now, in view of these things, what have we to do ? Repent 
of our sins and seek the God whom we have forsaken. If our 
principles have become corrupt, let us renew our allegiance to 
Truth, Justice and liberty. This is the religious aspect of the 
Case : and these are the duties which God imposes upon us as a 
people. And such, I believe, will be, to a greater or less extent, 
the result of our present fearful trials. Already you hear men, 
addressing our excited popular assemblies, appeal to the God of 
our Fathers and recognize the debauchery of the national con- 
science. The omen is favorable : let us take courage. 

We are in the midst of the horrors of a civil war. Fraternal 



18 

blood lias already crimsoned American soil. The drum-beat of 
mustering armies rolls across the broad continent with the re- 
volving Sim ; hurrying squadrons are arming and crowding 
toward the focal points of conflict ; more than thirty millions of 
people aif^ seething and surging with terrific excitements, while 
tlie whole land is filled with the roar of a wliirlwind of popular 
tumult. 

We ought to be deeply aroused by the grandeur of the occasion. 
It ought to make men even of cravens and native sneaks. This is 
not the hour for fear and cowardice. But in our excitement let us 
never loose our patience and justice and fervent charity. These 
will unfit us for no duties. 

But above all, let us not loose our faith in Almighty God — the 
God of our fathers. Let us look beyond tlie darkness of the 
storm and behold, by faith, the rainbow, mounted upon its cloudy 
chariot, driving the storm swiftly toward the distant horizon, 
while, all beneath, the green fields and shining hills and glittering 
forests open into the pleasant light of the returning sun of Peace. 
God is searching us ; but, as I believe, to correct our sins and not 
to destroy this generation and bury it beneath tne ruins of our 
noble institutions. 

None of us ever saw a day like this. We are fallen upon won- 
drous times. We have thought God was stirring up the Old na- 
tions ; but behold ! he is stirring up the New also. If we are 
Christians, there never was a time when we needed such a humble, 
fervent, importunate, spirit of prayer as now ; when we needed so 
much courage, hope, faith and love. If we are Patriots, there 
never was a time when we so needed a new baptism of love for our 
country and our whole country, as now. The Constitution and 
the Union are imperiled ; and this great fact, swallowing up all 
minor difficulties, should unite all patriotic hearts in a noble emu- 
lation in self-sacrifice and heroism. 

In our patriotism, let us retain the love of God ; in serving our 
country, let us serve our country's God ; and in standing by the 
Constitution and the Union, let us stand close by the side of Jesus 
Christ, our Divine Leader and Master, with this sublime prayer 
ever upon our willing lips — Thy Kingdom Come. 



THE WAR BEGUN 



Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain ; exalt the voice 
unto them ; shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of 
the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones ; I have also 
called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in 
my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like 
as of a great people : a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations 
gathered together ; the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the 
battle. Isa. 13 : 2, 3, 4. 

This is a vivid description of a nation recruiting and muster- 
ing for war. The national Banner is unfurled and lifted up as a 
rallying centre ; proclamations are issued, calling upon the peo- 
ple to arm themselves for the battle ; God is represented as de- 
claring that He had commanded and called His chosen regiments ; 
then there is the sound of mustering squadrons wheeling into 
line and marching to the rendezvous, like the tumultuous roar of 
whirlwinds among the mountains. 

The Prophet could hardly have hit our country and our times 
better, if he had aimed directly at them, by this sublime descrip- 
tion. So exactly are the experiences of nations repeated in the 
course of ages. This mustering of forces was for the invasion 
and destruction of Babylon, and was called for pioplieticaJly 
some twenty-five hundred years ago. It was God's grand raus- 
tering-call to vindicate righteousness and justice in the world, 
and show to the nations that their sins are observed of Heaven, 
and Avill not go forever unpunished. And when God summons 
an army into the field, placing Himself at the head ol it, you 
need not be told that victory is sure. 

Last Sabbath evening I ventured in this place to speak to you 
concerning evils which belong to the entire nation, au'l which 



20 

have been more or less instrumental in bringing us to the present 
crisis, and wbich we need to repent of, that God may vindicate 
our cause. And I feel convinced that no one will be able to 
charge us with a want of generosity or magnanimity in thus, 
first of all, frankly acknowledging any blame that may justly at- 
tach to ourselves, as well as others, before pointing our guns 
directly and unswervingly at the sins of our neighbors. 

I undertake then to-night to speak to you upon these two ques- 
tions chieily — ''What are we fighting for ?" and " What are the 
duties of Patriots in the present emergency ?" 

The country is in arms. The peace of the United States is 
broken. The ominous thunder of approaching battle rolls its 
dreadful mutterings along the dark cloud of gathering storms. 
The descending shower will be red. It is to rain blood. There 
seems to be no shelter for our heads ; and patriots need none 
when they are fighting for God and their Country. And I be- 
lieve we are on the side of right, of justice, humanity and of 
God, Let us see. 

1. We are called upon to defend the existing Constitutional 
Government of the United States. There is, of course, presump- 
tion in favor of the government as it exists at present. It has 
been the protection of our lives, our property, our homes, our 
civil, social, and religious institutions, for more than three score 
years and ten. We do not claim that it is a perfect government ; 
but we have regarded it as an advance upon all those which ex- 
isted before it. It has been our satisfaction at home, and the 
boast of our pride when abroad. We have been forward to pro- 
claim ourselves, even among the Kingdoms and Empires of the 
Old World, as citizens of the Republic of the United States of 
America — a free government — yea, the freest and best under the 
sun. We have gloried in our Constitution — as we had excellent 
occasion to do. I know there have been those who have execrat- 
ed it and spit upon it as an instrument framed against the rights 
of humanity ; but they have probably misconceived its spirit 
and intention. And we have the instructive spectacle to-day of 
an eminent statesman upon the Southern side — called now the 
Vice-President of a new Confederacy — declaring that the Consti- 
tution is for freedom and against slavery — but a document 



21 

freighted with a fatal mistake through the ignorance of its fram- 
ers. The Constitution stands for Liberty and Eq^uality, but it is 
wrong. Such is the orthodoxy of the newest political school. 

And this is the Constitution, fellow citizens, which we are now 
called to take up arms to defend. The Right of Revolution ex- 
ists, beyond all controversy. When a people are oppressed by 
the government ; when their rights are disregarded and trampled 
down ; when remonstrance is altogether in vain ; when earnest 
entreaty is dismissed with contempt ; when respectful protest is 
like lifting up the hand against a tempest ; when all such legiti- 
mate and commendable methods of seeking redress have been 
tried and end only in failure — then the right of revolution re- 
mains. But such are not the facts in the case of those who are 
now treacherously seeking to overthrow the government and des- 
troy the Constitution. Their cause deserves no higher title than 
Rebellion. Those who are leagued together in it are simply 
rebels. We call them traitors — as they are ; and all the black- 
ness of ignominy that settles in Cimmerian gloom upon the 
name of traitor, will be found upon them ; and not only that, but 
the cloud of Divine and Patriotic retribution will burst in tremen- 
dous ruin upon their heads. Let us, therefore, stand by the Con- 
stitution and the existing government against this miserable re- 
bellion. 

2. vVe are called also to defend our Federal Union. This 
family of States, confederated and cemented in their union by 
the love of Freedom, is now suffering from the violent attempts 
of a few of its members to sunder the sacred ties and demolish 
the magnificent fabric, of which we love to think God him- 
self was the Divine Architect and Builder. This Union of 
States, which was transmitted to this generation by a wise and 
patriotic ancestry, is threatened by a fearful disintegration. 
There is a new right claimed ; the right of the individual State to 
secede from the compact at pleasure. If granted, it becomes a 
self-destructive right. It is destroying the attraction of cohesion, 
thus permitting every particle of the aggregate to slide out of its 
place, however much may depend upon it, even if the entire 
mass is thereby reduced to a sand heap. This principle of Seces- 
sion is the principle of dissolution, and cannot but prove fatal to 



22 

the entire governmental structure. It is Young America on a 
national scale ; refusing allegiance to parental government ; turn- 
ing the house upside down; insisting on setting up for himself, 
after breaking the furniture and carrying off the silver and the 
parlor ornaments ; and, what is the very crown of this sublime 
impudence, patronizingly inviting the Old Folks, and some of 
the other children to come and make it their home with him — 
provided they will sneak over the threshold and behave them- 
selves humbly afterward. 

This is the spirit of that Secession which has laid its sacrile- 
gious hand upon our Federal Union. Will you defend it ? 
Shall this glorious inheritance from our Revolutionary Sires be 
snatched away from their posterity, without a struggle ? Shall 
this Union of States which has commanded the admiration of the 
world ; which is represented on our national banner "by cluster- 
ing Stars, known and honored everywhere among the nations of 
the earth ; shall this Union be torn asunder by the desperate 
wrench of Secession ? Shall those dim and rainy seven stars 
of Rebellion be suffered to gather upon the ignominious folds of 
the Banner of Treason, and thus break up and scatter, beyond all 
recombination, upon the sky of nations, this radiant Constella- 
tion of United States ? Never ! And the uplifted voices of twen- 
ty millions of patriotic freemen are heard, to-day, from granite 
hill and alluvial valley, from sea-side and river-side and lake- 
side, from moimtain and prairie, in one tremendous shout and 
appeal for the Union and Freedom — never ! never ! 

3. But we are called upon, thirdly, to battle for Freedom and 
against Slavery. The issue is at last clearly stated ; the linCg 
of combat are distinctly drawn ; and it is well. That fraction of 
the American people who are to-day enrolled under the flag of 
Rebellion, with the avowed purpose of establishing a government 
separate and independent of the United States, claim, as the fun- 
damental principle of their new Constitution, the Divine right 
and ordinance of African Slavery. The purpose of the Seces- 
sionists, therefore, stands before us at last naked and undisguised. 
It is to establish a government that shall sanction, legalize, 
enshrine, perpetuate, and defend, this stupendous system of 
oppression. We of the North who love Liberty and abhor 



23 

bonJage, must consent to this strengthening of the chains of 
oppression and lengthening out of the period of inhuman servi- 
tude, or suffer the consequences. We are generously permitted 
to take our choice ; either to surrender our property ; break up 
the existing federal Union ; bid the seceders, with their hands 
full of stolen treasures, an atiectionate farewell ; or submit our- 
selves soul and body to their arbitrary dictation, consenting thus 
that Slavery shall become national and perpetual in the United 
States. Consider, I pray you, the pleasant alternative thus pre- 
sented us. But how shall we do either ? Can we — dare we ! — 
as patriots, as Americans, sons of freemen and guardians of the 
liighest civil liberty ever granted to a nation, as lovers of 
Humanity — dare we accept either servile proposition ? 

And this is the political issue which we have been for years 
approaching At length it has arrived. Who does not know 
that this question of African Slavery is the one that has been the 
prolific source of our national agitations for now a quarter of a 
century and more ? This iniquitous Institution, thrust upon 
America by a most wicked love of gain, has thus far been con- 
tinued for commercial advantages, finding advocates and sup- 
porters everywhere. The Christian conscience has lifted up its 
denouncing and warning voice against it, until the almost entire 
Northern portion of the Confederation has banished this system 
of oppression from its soil. But it makes a desperate stand in 
the South. God says to the Pharaohs of oppression — "Let my 
people go ! " but they cannot let loose from their hands 
$600,0CO,OO0 of property — even if it is held in human flesh and 
blood and souls. And the more they feel the pressure of the 
demands of freedom the more tightly they draw the chains. They 
ignore compromises, disregard solemn agreements, undertake a 
system of arrogance and assumption, parade and bullying threats. 
They buy up mercenary politicians, make cowards of dough-face 
statesmen ; enter the Senate with revolver and bludgeon, striking 
down, under the very eyes of the government, the advocate of 
free speech, free press, and free men. They endeavor to seize 
forbidden territory to convert it into fields to be covered and 
ruined by slave labor. They push their traitors into Congress 
and the Cabinet of the administration, there to carry out a plan 



24 

of plunder and despoiling that shall weaken the government and 
prepare it for an easy subversion. And if, forsooth, Northern 
men protest against such wrong ; if they begin to speak of their 
own rights, and to rally for the support of the Constitution and 
the Union ; if they undertake to defend the very institutions and 
principles which the fathers of American Independence nobly 
gave their strength, their property and their lives to secure, why, 
they are mobbed, murdered, banished, and at length confronted 
by an armed rebellion, seizing government property and threat- 
ening the very Capital of the nation. 

This is the enemy that stands armed in our midst to-day. This 
is the institution and these the principles which they have now 
taken the sword to defend and perpetuate. And the practical 
question now is — shall this system of oppression succeed and 
triumph over justice and liberty ? Shall the great mass of the 
American people, eighteen millions to three millions, as Secession 
now stands, yield up all their political rights, their moral con- 
victions, their freedom of speech and action, their patriotism and 
their very manliness, to these traitors to their country and enemies 
of human liberty and equality ? How is such a course possible ? 
We should become a hissing and a by-word among the nations. 
Our greatness would be at an end. Our glory would be departed. 
Instead of a republic we should be an oligarchy. 

It is no longer the abstract question whether Abraham was a 
slaveholder, and the dismal conclusion, on the other side of a 
logical chasm which they all have to leap in their arguments, 
that, therefore, African slavery, as it exists in the United States, 
is a Divine Institution ; I say it is no longer this abstract ques- 
tion, but whether the United States shall still exist, a free and 
liberty-defending Union ; or whether these clustering Stars shall 
go down forever in the gloom of anarchy and despotism. This 
is the momentous question which, as a people, we are called this 
day to answer — and answer finally. 

You who are Commercial men, and are painfully aware of the 
ruinous times that have come upon us ; you who are tossed upon 
this sea of agitation like fair-weather barges in a tempest, not 
knowing what shall become of your business schemes ; you know 
very well that the source of this convulsion and imminent danger 



25 

is the unsettled question of Slavery. What then will you do with 
it ? Shall it remain for another quarter century a perpetual 
fountain of commercial disaster ? Or will you say — "Let us dis- 
pose of this difficulty now and for all time to come ? Let us put 
at rest forever this sea of turmoil and financial ship -wreck ? " 
Do you want another series of commercial earthquakes ? Have 
you fallen in love witii Panics, so that you cannot live happily 
out of their presence ? 

No ! I feel confident of your sentiments. You demand peace 
and security. You are heartily sick and tired of these recurring 
disasters. You say " let us have no more of these financial 
shocks." And I believe you are ready now to settle the matter 
— even with pecuniary loss — so that the ghost of it shall never 
rise again and return to trouble your warehouses, banks and in- 
vestments. 

It has been proposed, in ituly 1 think, to extinguish a volcano 
by turning the sea into it. These volcanoes, you know, are often 
troublesome and devastating creatures in the lands infested by 
them. They will have their earthquake revels and their eruption 
jubilees though at the expense of cities, green fields, luxuriant 
vineyards and multitudes of human lives. So it has been pro- 
posed to quench one of these Hery and obnoxious spirits of the 
Subterranean by oneuing the gates and letting in the sea iipon 
his fires. I know not whether this will be found practicable o'" 
not. But I think the American people now have the opportunity 
to extinguish the ever-restless volcano of Slavery. I do not mean 
by this immediate and unqualified abolition. Bat that as a 
Servile Institution, opposed in nature and vital spirit to our 
national liberties and our highest prosperity, it shall lose its 
aggressive and dictatorial temper, and, restrained within its pre- 
sent limits, live upon itself, if it can — or die, if it cannot. To 
this end let the gates be opened and the sea of Freedom begin to 
flow, with extinguishing streams, into the crater of Oppression. 

Capital is timid : and it has been crying out these many years 
amid the anti-slavery agitations — "peace ! peace ! only give us 
peace." But the inevitable issue could not be evaded The 
conflict between freedom and slavery in America has been, is. and 



26 

must be, irresistible. And business men for the most part I 
think have reached this final and inevitable conclusion. 

hee how prompt and generous has been the response, all 
through the North, to the President's call for money to defend 
th(! Union Millions have come forth like magic at the touch of 
patriotism. We hardly knew how rich we were until now. We 
were like a Firm that had been doing such an immense business 
and so pressed by a crowd of customers, that no time had been 
found to look over the books and see how matters stood. We 
reckoned we had made a handsome thing of it : but exactly how 
much it was impossible to tell. Now we begin to ascertain. 
And amid the multitude of generous offers we read with admiring 
delight of one solid New Yorker * who quietly and cheerfully 
offers fourteen millions to his country. Yes ! Commerce has 
lifted up its hand and sworn that oppression shall be no more. 
It has solemnly vowed in its banks, and exchanges, and Chambers 
of Commerce, that this Federal Union must and shall be sustained; 
that the government o! these United States shall not be pushed 
from its throne by the traitorous and bloody hand of a Pro- slavery 
rebellion. And this sublime and solemn vow of American Com- 
merce shall be fulfilled — God being our helper. 

We know not the particulars of the future course and issue of 
the war begun between Freedom and Slavery, and by the aggres- 
sion of the latter, upon American soil. God seems to need no 
prophets in these days : for He sends us none. But I think it is 
evident that the people are settling down into the conviction that 
the time has come for the final overthrow and destruction of the 
Institution of Slavery. This is not the ready sentiment of hot 
and fiery men who long ago were impatient to see it destroyed 
root and branch. But now men of all temperaments, of all 
moral theories, of all political creeds and associations, have run 
together with unprecedented lluency into the common and uni- 
versal opinion and feeling that it is high time to obliterate from 
our national escutcheon this rlisgraceful blot, and eradicate from 
our free institutions this uncongenial, disquieting and evermore 
dangerous element. The sovereign people ot the Free States 
appear to me to have fully and firmly made up their minds to 

* Tho newspapers say this of Ml'. Astor. 



27 

this coaclusioii. Nothing perhaps but such an unprovoked and 
piratical attack upon the government could have so revolution- 
ized the discordant s.utimeQis of a free-thinking people. But 
manifestly it has been done. We are one ; one for the Consti- 
tution ; one for the Union ; and one for Freedom. 

And let us bear in mind, fellow freemen, that being thus 
ordained and commissioned in the Providence of God to fight the 
battles of Freedom on this Western Continent, we are lilted up 
to the gaze of the world. Nations are watching us. Millions of 
hearts, over whom royal and imperial scepters wave all round 
the globe, but in whom are pent up the fires of human freedom 
and natural rights, waiting only the occasion to burst forth and 
flame abroad in the conflagrations of revolutions that shall 
inaugurate new and better eras in despotic governments, are 
looking to-day with unutterable anxiety to see how this contest 
between Liberty and Oppression — on this fairest and most pro- 
pitious field — shall finally terminate. We could not be more 
conspicuous if our armies were marshalled in tlie sky and marched 
along the clouds before the vision of the assembled world. 

The poor, the weak and the oppressed of the human race — the 
millions in Europe and Asia and Africa who are crushed under 
the thrones of Despotism — are more than spectators in this 
mighty conflict. They share in our victory and participate in 
the glorious benefits of the triumph of civil Liberty. We are 
figthing for those who are not able to defend themselves : and 
this ought to clothe us with thunder and arm us with lightning. 
The Tree of Liberty, planted by our venerable fathers upon these 
hospitable shores, far from the sharp winds and untimely frosts 
of old tyrannic institutions, we expected to bear fruit for the 
political healing of the nations. But the ruthless axe of Rebel- 
lion is now lifted up against it. The first stroke is given : but 
the sharp edge shall return upon the head of those who aimed 
the treacherous blow. The tree shall not be seriously wounded ; 
but the skull of Treason and Rebellion shall be cloven tlirough 
and through. May God aim the blow and pour of his omnipotence 
into the stroke. 

4. Our cause, moreover, is the cause of Humanity. We are 
called to the defense of inan against his enemies. Those enemies 



28 

are principles subversive of his highest good ; and, in the con- 
crete form, those men who consent to be the embodiment and 
representatives of such principles. 

There have alv/ays been enough to fight for the Divine Right 
of Kings; enough to do battle for the advantage of privileged 
classes — for ranks and tiers of aristocracies : but ours is a war- 
fare for the rights of man as man. We are enlisted in a contest 
for human liberty and equality. The leaders of the Rebellion 
laugh at us for maintaining the crazy delusion that all men are 
created free and equal. This glorious banner-truth of the De- 
claration of Independence they stigmatize as false. They have 
found out something new and true within the last twenty years ; 
namely, that only white men and educated men and rich men are 
created free and equal. The rest are ordained by Providence to 
1)6 the servants of the privileged class. Washington, Jefferson, 
Adams, Franklin and men of their class, we are told, did actually 
believe in human equality ; but they were deluded. They were 
so bewibiercd in their moral sentiments as to entertain the opinion 
that even the poor descendants of Ham, the unfortunate ! ought 
to possess the natural rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness : but they were guilty, according to the Apostle of 
Rebellion, of holding notions contrary to the ordinance of Divine 
Providence. Look upon it, my friends ; consider ihe matter 
carefully, for we are fatally involved in it : those who have be- 
come our enemies, by their own deliberate choice and act, are 
the avowed supporters of a Divine-right aristocracy. C'olor may 
be the signal : then if you are black yon are appointed to servi- 
tude. Ignorance and weakness may be the signals : then if you 
are without culture and destitute of might you must be enslaved, 
in ord'jr to fulfil the intentions of Providence. What shall hinder 
such abominable sentiments — underlying the newly-formed Servile 
Confederacy — from coming forward by and by and laying their 
hands upon us or our neighbors — or the generation after us ? 

Would we not be fools and worse than fools, when we might 
prevent it, if we suffered tyrants to enttT our homes and put 
manacles on our wrists calling them biacelcts "in the Providence 
of Grod ?" We feel them oppressive, and are conscious that our 
hands ought to be free and loose for action, as those of other 



29 

men : but are informed that we are appointed of God to wear 
handcuffs as ornaments. Why, such a philosophy as this, and 
such sentiments as these, will turn the thinking world into athe- 
ism, and the unthinking world into barbarism. This is the abyss 
into which other nations have plunged and wallowed and sunk, 
to rise no more. 

Against all such inhuman principles the free armies of the 
North are summoned to wage war. And was there ever a more 
worthy, a nobler, or more inspiring cause than this ? In the 
earlier centuries. Christian Europe arose and marched in crusad- 
ing hosts to Palestine, to resciie the Holy Sepulchre from the 
profane hands of the Infidels. But there was no Christ in that 
Sepulchre. The Lord of life and glory had arisen ages before 
and ascended into Heaven. It was only a Tomb with sublime 
memories enshrined in it, holy associations clustering around it. 
But in this new Crusade, with which we are summoned to 
march, we are to rescue from imprisoning hands the forms of 
Liberty and Equality, which the oppressors with malignant ener- 
gy are struggling to incarcerate ; and to demolish the dungeons 
themselves wnth ruin nnrestorable. 

5. Furthermore, we are culled forth in defence of our National 
Flag, and to vindicate its dishonored name. We love those 
clustering stars in their constellated splendor on the blue Heaven 
of Liberty, and the waving stripes of the red and the white. This 
banner is more to us than the material t)i-colored silken folds 
that float gracefully in the sunlight all across the continent from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and, until lately, waved everywhere 
from the great Lakes to the Griilf. It has been torn down and 
trampled upon by the minions of Despotism ; and to-day, cannot 
be unfurled in the region of Oppression, without being seized by 
the destroying hand of Treason. But really, my friends, ought 
we to mourn or ought we to rejoice that this beautiful ensign of 
Freedom is suffered to wave n© more over the Land of Oppres- 
sion and the home of the Slave ? We have been ashamed some- 
times to think what darkness still brooded upon society beneath 
this banner of light. And, to-day, for the first time since our 
Fathers lifted up this glorious banner in the name of the Lord, 
does it wave exclusively over the land of the free. Let the Bat- 



30 

tie-snake be the emblem of Servitude, if our enemies will have it 
so ; the Old Serpent — or any of his earthly kin — might well be 
borne upon the flag that floats above the rebellious mob of Treason 
and Slavery, It can coil and hiss and sting and do the Satanic 
deeds of Treachery ; but it cannot soar sunward through cloud and 
tempest like the Eagle — the fit emblem of Freedom. 

Now, there is something bublime in lifting up a national ban- 
ner ; something noble in defending it ; something heroic and mar- 
tyr-like in dying under its pleasant shadow, and being borne to a 
patriot's sepulchre wrapped in its lustrous iolds. But this is all 
so because of that which the banner represents. It is the flag of 
one's country ; and wherever it floats there we look for protection 
and for the sacred rights of citizenship. It is to us also the em- 
blem of Freedom. It is the flag which waved over the armies of 
the Revolution ; whose sacred Stars, burning dimly through the 
smoke of many battles, at length emerging from the twilight of 
war ascended to flame with perpetual beams upon the sky of na- 
tions. It is the flag of our fathers. It is the flag of Liberty and 
national majesty, floating from the Equator to either Pole. And 
long may it wave, in its star-spangled splendor, the emblem of 
Freedom and Union, gloriously amid the ensigns of the nations, 
when the Flag of Treason shall have disappeared from under the 
Avhole Heaven ; when Secession shall lie rotting in its ignominious 
grave, thrust into it by the avenging hands of freemen and pa- 
triots ; and when the spirits of the Conspirators shall have gone 
to stand before the throne of Eternal and irresistible Justice. 
Well may we defend our Flag, when it is the representative of such 
grand ideas, of such sublime realities. It is no puerile enthusi- 
asm, no ebullition of vaporous sentiment, that leads us thus to 
cherish it and glory in it. But so long as it stands for these ideas, 
so long as it remains emblematic of these realities, so long as it 
represents our country, it is worthy of all honor. Liviag, let us 
abide under its starry folds ; preaching, or praying, or fighting, we 
will preach and pray and bear arms under it as the flag of these 
undissevered United States. And may it not be the miserable 
fortune of any of us, that, dying, we shall turn our eyes in the 
fading light to look for it and find it superseded by another : but 
may the generations who shall follow us bear it onward and upward 



31 

in the march of Chnstiaii Civilization, till its Stars and Stripes, 
dimmed in the advancing light of the Millennium, shall fade out 
under the Banner of the Cross — the emblem of the Salvation and 
the Union of the Human Race — the Flag of a United World, under 
the reign of the Divine Prince of Peace. Then, and not till then, 
for one, am I willing to see the Stars and the Stripes taken down 
out of the air and rolled iip, to be unfurled no more forever. 

; And thus, my friends, have I endeavored to answer the ques- 
tion " What are we lighting for ?" Need we anything further 
to arouse us and impel us to swift and decisive action ? We are 
called to decide the question whether we still have a government; 
whether we possess a country ; and whether we are freemen or 
the subjects of an aggressive and barbarous Power seeking the 
overthrow of our Union and our Liberty, by abase and unnatural 
conspiracy. 

In defence of these dear and sacred rights and institutions, in 
the name of the God of Justice and Liberty, we have lifted up 
our Banner upon the mountain of the North ; and we believe the 
Lord of Hosts is mustering the host of battle. The war is be- 
gun. How long it shall continue no man can tell. "The first 
gun is fired, may God protect the right !" The cannonade of 
Sumpter is the trumpet-call of freemen to arms. I think Ave of 
the North have not sought this collision with those who were 
bound by every consideration to be our brethren. Patience, for- 
bearance, long-suffering even to a degree that has caused us the 
false reputatian of cowards, have certainly characterized the 
Northern people. We have been slow to anger ; tardy in the 
rising spirit of vengeance ; reluctant to lay aside the implements 
of peace and grasp the weapons of war. But having been forced 
into the contest by the suicidal madness of a mob, we take the 
field as a whirlwind takes possession of the skies. And no for- 
est of rebellious arms shall be able long to withstand the torna- 
does of patriotic justice and retribution. 

We had begun to think that the Patriotism^of Americans was 
a thing of history, hardly a shadow of which still existed in our 
degenerate days. So busy were we with our transport ships, our 
railroads, telegraphs, manufactories, farms and mines, that we 
seemed to have grown careless of the country's honor and pros- 



32 

perity. We had suffered demagogues and politicians to have 
matters so entirely as it pleased them, that it seemed as if we 
were indifferent quite to our civil and political institutions. 
Many began to feel melancholy and talk mournfully respecting 
our present condition and our future career. We were lamenting 
the dearth of heroes and the scarcity of patriots. When lo ! of 
a sudden, as when the lightning hurls a burning javelin quite 
through the sky from east to west — we awoke, leaped upon our 
feet and stood for the Union and Liberty, almost without a dis- 
senting voice. The dry bones in the valley of Patriotism, were 
instantly clothed with flesh, and braced with the sinews of might; 
and, before we could narrate it, the mustering squadrons of free- 
men joined in the ranks of war. Let us say no more that the 
Americans of the Free States are wanting in Patriotism. The 
spirit of the Revolutionary fathers is upon us. The might of 
those earlier days has descended to us. The blood of heroes has 
not all run out of our veins, though we have been so repeatedly 
bled by corrupt and selfish rulers. Thank God ! for the millions 
of Patriots that this Conspiracy against our government has dis- 
closed to our apprehensive vision. If the war should end to-mor- 
row we have something to carry home as a trophy won by the 
rumor of war — even the rediscovered patriotism of the North. 
Let us never despair again. 

What, then, is our duty as Patriots ? Why, evidently to 
stand by the Government at all hazards, M'ith every needed sacri- 
fice of money, men and life. Our fathers pledged their " lives, 
their fortunes and their sacred honor" — for liberty ; and can we, 
after the experience of so many years of political, civil and reli- 
gious freedom, do less than this ? A poor government is to be 
preferred to no government at all — to anarchy ; and the govern- 
ment under which we live we cannot be willing to exchange for 
any ever yet set up under the sun. We have yet a Constitution; 
let us defend it. We have still a Union ; let us maintain it. 
We have our Country still, though shaken by intestine strife ; 
let us rally for its protection against the whole rabble of Traitors 
and Conspirators. 

We must not boast and threaten, parade, wave our banners and 
shout huzzahs ! after the manner of the Fourth of July ; but must 



33 

be mon of action, prompt, bold and efficient. We can attend to 
celebrations afterward, when with our flag waving over the ruins 
of rebellion, and upon every re-possesscd fortress of the United 
States, another sacred day has been admitted into our national 
calendar : the day of the 'Second Conquest by freedom. 

But danger may yet arise from another and somewhat unex- 
pected quarter. We may behold again the entreating face of 
Compromise thrust in between the belligerent hosts. There may 
come one blowing a trumpet and bearing ;i white flag, calling out 
and saying : "Let us have peace ; let us comj^romise these 
difficulties." But it is too late, my friends ; there is no possible 
compromise between right and wrong ; between light and dark- 
ness; between freedom and slavery. That error is finally exploded. 
Compromise has been tested, one would think, to the satisfaction 
of everybody. Should we make another attempt at an adjustment 
of this sort, it would only postpone a little longer, anil to our 
damage, the inevitable issue. There never was a better time than 
now to settle this vexed and vexing question. The millions of 
the North have made themselves ready to meet it. If the worst 
must come ; if it is necessary that our Union be re-baptized with 
patriotic blood ; there is but one voice among us : "Let it come !" 
We do not want peace at the sacrifice of liberty and right : we are 
not so ciaven-hearted as to desire an ignominious escape from 
perilous duties. 

I do not forget the horrors of war ; neither will I magnify them 
upon an occasion like this. As a Christian and an embas>ador of 
the Prince of Peace I should like to preach peace ; and I do and 
will preach it. But the peace which Jesus Christ brings into the 
the world is not the peace of cowardice, nor unmanly abandonment 
of one's rights, nor guilty sneaking from the post of danger to find 
repose in the solitude of selfishness ; but it is the peace that 
comes in the train of willing sacrifices and noble endeavors in be- 
half of truth, justice and liberty. There is a peace that God 
sends sometimes in the track of devastating war. If it were other- 
wise we should rejoice. If every sword were broken and every 
gun were burnt, all round the globe, nevermore to be needed, we 
should be glad. But that time has not yet come. Nay the day 
m ay dawn, peradventure it is here already, when we must take 



34 

literally the words of Jesus : "He that hath no sword, let him 
sell his garment and buy one." 

So let it be our firm and immutable purpose to repel all guilty 
leagues with wrong. If the question of African Slavery as a des- 
potic and aggressive power in our government is not now laid in 
its grave, no man can tell how soon again the country may be 
shaken from centre to circumference by the old agitation. As 
business men do you want a live earthquake under your ware- 
houses ; which, though it sleep sometimes, wakes suddenly and 
without warning? As citizens of a free government, do you want 
to live in the perpetual dread of conspiracy, treason and re- 
bellion ? 

Moreover I believe the hand of the Lord is in this thing. It is 
the Lord of hosts who is mustering our armies. He has not de- 
clared to us his plans for the campaign. But plans He certainly 
has. Let us seek to know his will in this matter and be guided 
by it. We are wrought into a tempest of excitement, and we 
ought to be. I would not counsel any less enthusiasm : more if 
anything. But throughout it all let us remember that firmness, 
unfaltering courage, unwavering determination, led on by patriot- 
ism and a love of liberty, are the qualities that ensure victory at 
the last. We must not forget that we are a Christian people 
upon whom the eyes of the heathen world are turned. And if 
we are required to make war, for selfdefense against our own 
countrymen, let us fight like Christians. And there are no such 
warriors as those who take the sword conscientiously to defend 
the right, who enter the battle-field fresh from communion with 
God. There is something fearfully sublime in the thought of a 
Christian hero, arming himself, not for spiritual, but physical 
victories. Thousands of such are entering the ranks that are to- 
day forming in defense of our country. 

And now to you, who have come in here to-night from your 
military encampment, let me address a special word in conclusion. 
We have not met before : we may not meet again. You go forth 
to the uncertainties of war. Not uncertain however, as I think, is 
the final issue ; that must be victory. But the camp and the 
battle-field are not the parlor and the peaceful street at home. 
Yet in your departure you have much to inspire you, to encourage and 



35 

cheer you on. The rights and the principles which you have 
tajjen up arms to defend are not insignificant or doubtful. You 
ha 'c ftalisted in the defense of the Constitution, the Union and 
Our beloved Country. The banner that waves above your heads 
is the same thit was carried by your valiant sires. It must never 
come back, ha zing trailed in the dust under the feet of traitors. 
Wisconsin expects every man to do his duty. The eyes of the 
State arc upon you. The honor, the courage, the patriotism of 
the Northwest are to be maintained and vindicated by you. Tell 
the enemy, when you meet them, that you are only the vanguard 
of an invincible host, encamped yet at home and ready to march 
at a moment's warning. Thousands and tens of thousands, if 
needed, are in the path of duty ready to follow you. 

As fellow countrymen we are pledged to succor you ; as citizens 
of the same state we shall sustain you by every means ; as patriots 
we shall accompany you by our love and sympathy ; as Christians 
we will pray for you night and day, till you return with glory and 
victory on your banners. 

I commend you to the blessing and protection of God, the Lord 
of hosts, the Almighty Ruler of Heaven and Earth, the dear 
Father of us all. Put yoiir trust in Him. Abide in the shadow 
of the Omnipotent. Lift up your banners in the ntune of the 
Lord. Fieht his battles. Do his work. And when the hour of 
combat shall come ; when the roar of conflict and the tumult of 
battle are upon you, the Lord Most High be your shield, your 
Captain, your strength and your trust. And at length, when 
homeward marching, flushed with the triumphs of a successfxil 
campaign, may your grateful hearts rise to Him in thanksgiving 
and praise. And even if He shall spare you the dreadful ex- 
periences of battle forget Him not. Let God be your best friend, 
in peace or in war, in life and in death, now and forevermore. 



W60 



'/•« 





:- '''^Ao^ ^..^la'-. ^o^ -"^m^^^ '^^.^ 






v<s^ 



v<s^ 










^-^c,'^" 













i?Jv_ 


















WERT ^^r> ■* 

BOOKBINDING M^, 

C'dntMll* Pa ■ <^^^ 










